Merry Christmas, Red Sox fans!

I was really interested to see what this front office would do with all the freed up money from the LA Dodgers deal and so far I just don't get it. I understand with the way baseball is set up, you're going to overpay in the free-agent market but I'm still trying to make sense of the players Boston has signed.

Napoli (pending): three years, $39 million. Victorino: three years, $39 million. Dempster: two years, $26.5 million. Gomes: two years, $10 million. All are middle of the pack guys in their 30s coming off average years. That's a lot of years and dollars for players that I'm not sure make this team that much better.

In a perfect world, if the Red Sox were to have gotten these players on one-year deals, I'd be all for it. I like the Steven Drew move, who they definitely overpaid for, but still have him for one year as he looks for his next contract in which there are no strings attached.

Even though some of the Boston media would tell you otherwise, there seems like there are at least comparable options on the free-agent market the Red Sox could have gotten at a lesser price. For example, instead of Dempster, I would have overpaid Dan Haren for the one-year deal he took in Washington for $13 million and given Francisco Liriano his two year, $14-million-dollar deal. Two decent starting pitchers for the price of one mediocre one.

Instead of Napoli (pending), I would have given Carlos Pena the one-year deal he got for $3 million. Don't get me wrong, Napoli is the better player but neither should be your first baseman of the future. Why not take the guy on a one-year deal as you look to the future?

If you add up all the money from the position players so far I would have rather combine them for Josh Hamilton and given him the five-year deal he took from the Angels. Look at this line-up right now and you'll probably agree. The starting rotation is still up in the air and although the bullpen seems to be coming together, always it's a perennial wildcard.

It remains to be seen how these moves will translate on the field and hopefully the Red Sox will get a little more creative as we head closer to the 2013 season.